Sourdough English Muffins

Wish I was an English muffin‘Bout to make the most out of a toaster
— Simon and Garfunkel, “Punky’s Dilemma”

If you want to make the most out of your toaster, lose the Thomas’ and grace it with these instead.

Inspired by several talented bakers at The Fresh Loaf who have produced various takes on the English muffin in recent months, I finally could stand it no longer, and had to try them for myself. I see why they have been so popular. The bang for the buck is tremendous; they could not be easier, yet the result is outstanding.

The recipe uses just the amount of starter I’m “discarding” from my evening feeding, so I don’t even have to have planned ahead to make them (always a bonus in my world). Ferment the sponge overnight, and it’s a simple affair in the morning to mix and cook them.

Sourdough English Muffins

Yield: 8 – 10 muffins

Time:

Mix and ferment sponge: 8 hours

Mix and shape final dough: 15 minutes

Proof: 45 minutes

Cook: 15 minutes

Sponge Ingredients:

110 g ripe 100% hydration sourdough starter

160 g flour

100 g whole wheat flour

276 g milk (I used lowfat 1%)

Final Dough Ingredients:

75 g flour

3/4 t. salt

1 t. baking soda

1.5 t. agave nectar (or honey)

all of the sponge

Method:

In a medium bowl, mix the sponge ingredients until just combined. Cover and let rest for 8 hours or overnight.

Add the final dough ingredients and mix to roughly combine. Turn the dough out onto the counter and hand mix for about 7 or 8 minutes, or until the surface becomes quite smooth. The dough will be very soft, and sticky at first. Resist the urge to add more flour; it will become less sticky with mixing.

Flour the counter and your hands well, and roll or pat the dough out to a thickness of about one-half inch. Cut the dough into 3-inch circles and place them on semolina-dusted parchment paper.

Cover and let proof for 45 – 60 minutes.

Lightly oil a griddle and heat it over medium-low heat. Cook the muffins for a total of about 7 or 8 minutes on each side, until browned and the sides are firm. I find I get a better shape to the muffins if I flip them every couple of minutes for the first few minutes.

Cool on a wire rack. To get the best nooks and crannies for toasting, split the muffins with a fork rather than a knife.

I love your blog. Awesome. Had my starter going since December of 2015. Love your sandwich bread recipe. Did your amazing fluffy pancakes today. Was a little freaked out that there was no call for additional flour but it was amazing tasting. Working on this muffin now. Seems to be going well on the 45-60 min rise. Gonna use a cast iron skillet because I don’t own a griddle. ????????

Years after I learned to make sourdough bread, I heard a story that a woman was making meatloaf. She got it ready to put in her baking dish, cut both ends off before placing in the baking dish and threw them away then baked her meatloaf. Her little girl asked her why she cut the ends off and threw them away. She replied, “Because my mother did it that way.” The little girl asked grandma why she did it that way. Grandma replied the same, “Because my mother did it that way.” The little girl went to great grandma and asked her why she did her meatloaf that way. She replied, “Because my baking pan was always too small.”

With that being said, I never could understand why people would discard some of the sour from the starter container. I did it a few years in the beginning “because I was told to.” Then I decided to stop throwing it away and feed my starter a little less. My bread always comes out superb and I have been told by everyone who has had it that it is by far the best bread they have ever had!

I’m a fermentation specialist. Long story short we cannot tolerate gluten in my house, not even from organic wheat. But we can eat the wild sourdough without a problem. Just confirming that there is no problem with sourdough for gluten intolerant individuals.

Tried the english muffin recipe and having problem understanding the recipe. After proofing the starter overnight and adding final ingredients, I had a very thick liquid batter/dough that was not manageable for kneading in any form. I chose to use a dough hook for 8 minutes, but no significant change. Am I missing someyhing here? Or is this dough meant for rings after letting proof for an hour? The ingredients make a very wet dough??????

I’ve been building up a GF sourdough starter for a while now, looking for a way to use the amounts removed at feeding. I attempted this recipe last night/today. Perhaps the lack of gluten affected the dough consistency (usually the case), but it was definitely too wet to knead by hand. I used the bread hook attachment on my stand mixer, and let the whole batch proof for an hour in the bowl of the mixer. Because the dough was still too wet to roll out (again, often the case) I spooned the dough directly into a preheated skillet with cornmeal. The finished muffins puffed nicely, have great nooks and crannies, and a delicious flavor. Definitely will continue to refine this recipe for GF baking and use it again. Thanks!

Terrific recipe. Yes, the dough is very wet but I don’t use my hands at all. I use a pair of D-shaped plastic dough paddles to mix, split and drop onto a baking sheet covered in rough-grain semolina and then dust the dough with more before leaving to rest. I put any spare semolina back in the pack since this is all I use it for. I find turning after the first 4 minutes is the trickiest point but after that it can be done by hand. Our favourite topping is egg mayonnaise!

Hello! I have used this recipe several times with great results! I absolutely love it.
I have an extremely new and armature blog and have tweaked this recipe with my own accommodations and have put it as my 2nd ever blog post. I have put a link to both this recipe and your blog on said post, hoping to give proper credit where it is do. Please let me if this is alright.
Thanks so much again for this marvelous recipe!